Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Author: A Dose of God Today

  • MOVEMENTS LOVING AND SHARING LIFE

    MOVEMENTS LOVING AND SHARING LIFE

    June 2, 2024 – Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060224.cfm)

    The Barrio Fiesta we had last May 15 was truly moving and meaningful for me. The participation of every GKS (Gagmay’ng Kristohanong Simbahan) and Barrio Chapels and the presence of each one made so much impact for me. The spirit of sharing in that celebration no matter how simple the food we have shared, reminds us that we are a community.

    This is what we also find in many banquets that have happened in our friends and family celebrations. The gathering together of people and the sharing of gifts to one another brings us closer together.

    Yet, more than the Barrio Fiesta, the Eucharist that we now celebrate and partake is the very image of God’s invitation for us to share in his life where we are also invited the embrace and learn the movement of loving and sharing life.

    And so, on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, let us explore and discern the readings today and see how the Lord calls us to respond.

    The first reading from the Book of Exodus brought us back to people’s action of renewing the covenant they have with God. They recognized that they have transgressed against God. This acknowledgement of human sin, led them to ask pardon. The blood of the sacrificial animals symbolized the cleansing and renewal of the people’s heart.

    At the end of the reading, we were also reminded that it was God who made such covenant, meaning, it’s God’s initiative to be reconciled and be closer to the people. The response of the people who were being renewed must be understood then as an act of thanksgiving because the Lord remains merciful and faithful.

    This is reechoed in today’s Psalm, “To you O Lord, I will offer sacrifice of thanksgiving and I will call upon the name of the Lord.” This is certainly a song of praise and thanksgiving because of God’s goodness and faithfulness. Indeed, the “cup of salvation” is the assurance and promise of a blessed life.

    The Letter to the Hebrews gives more light to this. Christ as our High Priest offered the ultimate sacrifice. The sacrifice was not anymore of the blood of animals but his own blood shed on the cross. The oblation of the life of Christ paid off every transgression that we have done so that we will be able to share that blessed life with God, our eternal inheritance.

    This very act is again, God’s initiative. This is how God’s faithfulness and goodness are concretely shown to us as God’s beloved people. This tells us now that God never stops and never tires to bring us closer to God’s holy and loving presence. The Lord even initiated to offer his life for our sake. No matter how difficult it is to understand and illogical it may sound, but this is how love can move the heart of God.

    That is why, in the Gospel of Mark, he recounted how Jesus did that Last Supper. Jesus must have done it many times before this. Yet, this time it was made extra especial because of what he was about to offer for us.

    Jesus with his powerful words says to us, “This is my body; This is my blood of the new covenant.” The Lord shares to us now his very life. His body and his blood means his very life, the very life of God.

    And this is how we find it more interesting and meaningful. What Jesus offered to us was first being blessed, then, given thanks, then, broken and then shared. These are movements of loving and movements of sharing life to the fullest.

    This is what we also do now in this Eucharist, this Holy Mass. What we do is not merely rituals of the past. What we do is not just some sort of ancient actions. What we do is a celebration of life and continual sharing of love and life to us who are all invited by the Lord.

    And since it is common in our culture to brings something after the banquet, there are three things that I would like you to bring. These are your bring-house or take-aways.

    First, be nourished by this celebration. This nourishment is not just limited physically but in all aspects of our life. Remember, what is being shared to us is the very life of Jesus. Let this nourishment make us more aware of God’s presence in our life and in the lives of others. Let Jesus nourish us as well that our actions and words may become more like him.

    Second, move to love. God’s initiative to be closer to us is God’s movement of loving. Let us be always conscious that our actions and decisions in life be our ways of loving and not ways of destroying or hurting others.

    Third, move to share. Do not be afraid or have doubts to be truly generous of your time, presence, talents or resources. The Lord has given his life and blessings to us, may our actions and words be truly generous. Thus, share without “strings attached,” without expectations and without payment. May we always have the courage and the desire to share our life to our communities. Hinaut pa.

  • Meal-Fellowship

    Meal-Fellowship

    June 2, 2024 – Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060224.cfm)

    In almost every Filipino homes there is a picture of Last Supper near the dining table. Have you ever wondered why in all places such picture of the Lord’s last supper is hanged near the dining table?

    This is because we, Filipinos love celebrations. We like to be part of big party or fiesta. Basically, we are meal-oriented people. We like to eat, and mealtimes are important and meaningful activity for us. Yes, we like to eat, but we like to eat TOGETHER. We eat not only for nourishment but for the fellowship as well. For us, eating is not only a usual routine of nourishing our own physical body, but also a common activity of strengthening relationship and bonding.

    That is why we eat together not for the food, but for the companionship and covenant it brings. Mealtime for us is not only the time to eat, but also the opportunity to encounter – to experience one another. This is why we don’t like to eat alone. We like to eat with companion, because for us, meals, eating, tables would mean celebrations, table-fellowship, sharing, bonding, rituals, and communion.

    The word ‘companion’ is an interesting word. It comes from two Latin words: cum which means “with”, and panis which means “bread”. So a ‘companion’ literally means someone whom I share bread with. And it is only a few (not all) you enjoy having meal with. There has to a bonding – a relationship first, which is deepened by the sharing of food and drink.

    Usually, by inviting a person to a meal, we seal our contracts, we show acceptance and approval. We know that once you are invited to take part in their table – to eat with them, it would mean that you are already accepted. You become one of them. You belong to them.

    This is why we like the picture of the Last Supper hanging on near our dinner table because we want to be part of Lord’s celebration of life. Taking our meals in front of the picture of the Last Supper, whatever the food is, whether lechon   or bulad or ginamos, would mean we want to be a companion of Jesus and his disciples in their party celebration.

    This is why it is also particularly difficult for us to not able to attend Holy Mass during pandemic & how insufficient it is, just to take part of the Holy Mass through the live-streaming. This is also why it is grave sin for us to miss & not attend Sunday Eucharist. In other words, we do like to renew and strength our faith-relationship with Him.

    We want to be accepted and belong to His community. We like to be part of His family-banquet, His party. And all of these are greatly done and signified until now in our table-fellowship in the Lord’s Eucharist, in our celebration of the Holy Mass.

    Today, we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ. Today, we recognize and celebrate Christ’s continuing Presence and His binding promise of love and redemption to us, through His gift of Himself in a form of bread and wine, and above all our taking part & our fellowship-party with Him in the banquet of our Christian faith & life.

    Our readings today remind us that as in life we feed ourselves with food, the Lord also feed us with His food, not only to nourish us but also to strengthen our covenant relationship with Him. Jesus in our gospel today especially has offered us His body and blood, as our inheritance of God’s manna in the Holy Eucharist.

    By sharing us Himself in body and blood, Jesus sealed us new covenant-relationship with God. And because of this, we are continually nourished by God’s graces and we are in communion with Christ’s eternal life. In other words, through His body and blood, Jesus is offering us not only God’s food for our faith-life journey but also a meal-time party (or a food trip) with God.

    That is why every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we are in covenant or in companionship with God, with Jesus, and with one another. Thus, through our table-fellowship as family and community in our celebrations of the Lord’s Eucharist every Sunday and also as Filipino in front of the picture of the Lord’s Supper, we are united with the Lord and we take part with His glory and work of redemption.

    Perhaps if we say nowadays, “We are what we eat and who we eat with” (Tayo ay Kong ano ang kinain at sino ang kasama), in attending Eucharist, we as Christian proclaim that through the body and blood of Jesus we are having party-meal (food trip/ breaking bread) with God now and always.

    For those who are not able to receive communion during live-stream Masses, nowadays they would pray Act of Spiritual Communion of St. Alphonsus, saying “I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart… Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.”

    Such words express our deep desire to be in communion with Jesus, to be part and companion of His eucharistic sacred life.

    We pray that we may always be in communion & in companion with our risen Lord, be nourished by His body & blood, and be always united & bonded, not separated from His love & mercy.

    So Help Us God, So May it be. Amen.

  • Three-fold ONE

    Three-fold ONE

    May 26, 2024 – Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052624.cfm)

    Once a team of mountain climbers were stranded almost near at the highest peak. As the air grew thin and weather got colder – that made them cold and weak, one of them made a fire. So, together they gather around the fire and contribute whatever they have to sustain the fire. As they started to enjoy the heat, they share food, as well as their stories and dreams with one another that in effect, sustain and inspire them again. One of them decided to be on his own. So, he took a fire of stick with him, and isolated himself from the group. Eventually, away from the group, his fire extinguished and he got sleepy and weak.

    With the team, we get strength and inspiration from one another. Away from the team, we get tired, weak, and dispirited.

    As Christians, we praise God in the name of  the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. We give glory to God Father, Son, Holy Spirit. We proclaim our creed of faith, saying: “I believe in God, the Father…in Jesus Christ… in the Holy Spirit.” At its very core, our Christian faith is Trinitarian – i.e. unlike any other religions, we uniquely believe in God, the Father-Son-Holy Spirit.

    As we honor today the Holy Trinity, perhaps now we ask: What does it mean to believe in the Trinitarian God?

    First, the word covenant simply would mean, “coming together”. As God making covenant with us, God wants to “come together for us/with us/in us”. In God the Father of Easter, we come to believe a “God-FOR us” who chooses us to be His own people. In God the Son of Christmas, we come to believe Emmanuel Jesus, a “God-WITH us” who makes known to us God’s love for us, and how to love God in return. In God the Holy Spirit of Pentecost, we come to believe a “God-IN us”, who inspires, directs, and sustains us in life of faith.

    To believe in the Holy Trinity then is to be in covenant with God, much as God is in covenant with us. Meaning, as God is for us/with us/in us, we must also be People for God, with God, and in God.

    Second, in the Lord’s ascension, we are reminded that the risen Lord is not-finished yet. His mission of salvation for us is still a work-in progress, and is now a product of the concerted-effort, teamwork of the communion of the Holy Trinity. Our salvation is the teamwork and actions OF our God, the Father who chooses us to be His own, THROUGH God the Son who is loving us always, and WITH the God the Holy Spirit who inspires, directs, and sustains us in life.

    To believe in the Holy Trinity is thus to be IN Communion with God. As God acts and works as one for our salvation, so also we must be in sync, in tune with God’s concerted teamwork for our salvation. Thus we not only to give glory to them but also we are to be in sync & teamwork  with the works OF the Father, THROUGH the Son, WITH the Holy Spirit for our salvation.

    Third, as the Lord mandated us to proclaim our faith to all nations, in our gospel today, he particularly challenges us to make disciples in the name of the Holy Trinity. Making disciples while proclaiming our faith to all nations would mean helping ourselves and one another to be in constant covenant with God, and in partnership-communion with God’s work of salvation for us.

    To believe in the Holy Trinity then is to lead our lives and faith as Church, a Community of faith. As God is and works as Community, we too must also be and acts as Church – a community of Christian faith, living and witnessing God’s being and acting in our lives.

    The Holy Trinity shows us as Church how to be and act as God’s own People. As much as God be and acts together, to have a Trinitarian faith we too must be and act in covenant, in communion and in community with God and one another.

    As Church then, we must be faithful people for God, with God, and in God – witnessing our faith in sync with the labor of the Father, through the Son, with the Holy, and living our lives as church community making disciples and proclaiming our faith.

    Remember “the community is the bearer of God’s Salvation”. Salvation thus happens in the context of the church, faith-community, and not of individuals. We are God’s own chosen PEOPLE, not chosen individual. We all are to be in covenant, in communion and in community with Him and His church.

    With the church, we are strong and inspired. Without and away from the church, we are weak and dispirited. We are to be with His TRIUNE, (Threefold ONE). As Pentecost marks the birth of our Church, be reminded that the Holy Trinity articulates what is & what our church should be.

    May we, as God’s own, not be separated from the Holy Trinity and God’s church, but instead always be connected and involved with God’s life and labors of salvation for all nations and peoples, now and always.

    So Be It. Amen.

  • The Birth of the Church

    May 19, 2024 – Pentecost Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052823-Day.cfm)

    Have you ever experienced a time when you are so caught up with the wonders of the moment that made you say how great it is in our own native language? And then…, a foreigner caught up with the same experience as you are having, utter words of how great it is, and also in your own native language?

    Like once, my Pilipino friend and I were walking sight-seeing in a street of Brussels, Belgium. We caught sight of a beautiful painting being done in the plaza. In our amazement, we both loudly utter words: “Ang Ganda, ano.” “Ohh, Such a beauty”. And then a Belgian guy also in wonder say: “Oo nga, napakaganda” (Oh Yes, Beautiful). All of us (Pinoy and Belgian) where not only caught up with the beauty of the painting, but also with the beauty of the moment where we can communicate and understand each other our appreciation of our momentary experience with the painting.

    Perhaps the same experience could be said about a French man who tries to eat kumtang – a famous Korean beef stew, inside a Korean restaurant with among Koreans, and after tasting it, said: “Masizoyo” (Delicious, Sarap). All understand how tasty kumtang is, and even a foreigner is able to appreciate it through in the local native language and tongue. In other words, Napa-Koreano sa Sarap. O Napa-Tagalog sa Ganda.

    Our shared experiences of wonders and mutual understanding among diverse cultures somehow describes us the experience of the people and the disciples during the day of Pentecost. Church tradition has it that fifty days after His resurrection (ten day after His Ascension), on the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the promised gift of Holy Spirit to the church, and inspired them to speak in different languages to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, people from different cultures then and until now are able to speak, hear and understand each other’s Christian faith in each other’s own native tongues.

    Because of such experience, today marks not only the culmination of Easter season but moreso, the birthday of the Church – the day of birth, the day when the church becomes alive. The gift of the Holy Spirit is thus very essential in the life of the Church. Like a soul to a body, the Church is dead without the movements of Holy Spirit, as well as the spirit cannot inspire our life without body, the church. We, the church needs the Holy Spirit to live as well as the Holy Spirit needs our Church to offer us meaning and direction in life. For how does the Holy Spirit may somehow work in our lives?

    First, the Holy Spirit makes us experience and witness the present moment. Like being caught up with the beauty of a painting or scenery, with the delicious taste of food, with the wonders of the architectures & building, cooking, or working processes, with the intensity of a good book read, a good drama play or telenovela, and like the risen Lord made Himself known to his disciples, the Holy Spirit inspires us to situate and appreciate ourselves in the present experience. In other words, the Holy Spirit offers us PRESENCE in the here and now.

    Second, the Holy Spirit compels us to share our inspiration of the present moment with others. Our inspiration then is not ours to keep but to be shared with others. Like falling and being in love, the Holy Spirit moves us to proclaim and communicate our life and inspiration with others in a way that we can understand each other. In other words, the Holy Spirit provides us the LANGUAGE to articulate and communicate our inspiration of the present moment.

    And lastly, the Holy Spirit makes us respond rightly and accordingly to the inspiration-given and shared. Like Jesus giving us the mandate and mission to witness and proclaim our faith to all nations, the Holy Spirit encourages us to lead our lives according to our faith-life inspirations. In other words, the Holy Spirit obliges us a LIFESTYLE – a way of being and becoming human in life.

    Like, as Love is one of its gift, the Holy Spirit inspires us to love and be loved, to express humanly such love with an-other and others, as well as to live our lives as loving and beloved person. In the same way with faithfulness, the Holy Spirit inspires us to have faith and trust in the risen Lord in life, to express, proclaim, and share our faith with others (regardless of culture and race), and to practice and live out such faith in our daily lives.

    The Holy Spirit thus concretely offers us PRESENCE – LANGUAGE – LIFESTYLE of Love and Faith in life. That is how essential Holy Spirit is into our day to day lives as Christian and as Church.

    We can only receive what is being offered. And it will be offered us in our life, if and when we allow and invite the Holy Spirit into our very lives now. We can only share what we already have. We welcome then the Holy Spirit into our lives now so that others may feel its presence, relate with its language, & live its lifestyle in our world today.

    As we celebrate the birthday of the Church, we especially once again invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, as we pray: “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.” Amen.

  • TO BE CONTINUED ….

    TO BE CONTINUED ….

    May 12, 2024 – Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus

    Click here for the readings(https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051224-Ascension.cfm)

    On the cross before His death, Jesus did not said, “I am finished”, but rather he said, “It is finished”. Meaning Jesus is not finished yet, but rather, He is just getting started.

    Somehow these insights and thoughts offer us much deeper meaning and appreciation of our faith in the Lord’s resurrection. Easter proclaims the Lord has indeed risen. And this would mean that our risen Lord is not only alive in us but also He is not finished yet.

    After his death, then, and in His resurrection, His mission for our salvation is just getting started, not yet finished, and is still work in-progress. His suffering and death must have finished already, but our salvation through Him is still going & continuing on.

    Ours is a salvation story with the risen Lord, not of sad “endings and goodbyes” but rather of hopeful “beginning and to be continued”. Easter thus proclaims the risen Lord is not finished yet, and still just getting started. So Abangan, Be ready. There are yet more to happen and much better to yet to come in our Christian lives from now on and beyond.

    Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension during Easter season. As what was described in our readings today, church tradition has it that forty days after the risen Christ have made Himself known appeared to the Apostles and stayed with them, given them many proofs of the resurrection, worked many miracles and had spoken to them and taught them of the Kingdom of God, the risen Lord now brought them into a high mountain.

    There, Jesus gave them his last words, blessed them, and he was lifted before their eyes, and a cloud received Him taken out of their sight. Such event is now what we Christians believe and proclaim the second glorious mystery: the Ascension of the Lord – the risen Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven, and seated at the right hand of the Father.

    Perhaps the best way to appreciate its meaning is to see the Lord’s Ascension, not from what had happened to Jesus and his disciples but from what Jesus said to his disciples.

    As our gospel suggests the Lord’s Ascension is the moment when the risen Lord blessed and commissioned His disciples to be his witnesses to the world and to continue on the Mission he had begun.

    In the Lord’s Ascension, we remember then the event when Jesus has now entrusted to His disciples all the good things he had begun. In other words, Jesus was handing down the responsibilities and sharing on the task of proclaiming the Good News to us, His disciples. It is just like Jesus saying in these words, “Guys, I have already done my part. This time, rise up to the occasion and do your part. Go now, go ahead, move on to the world and proclaim that you are my witnesses and that I have given you the authority to share what you have experienced and learned from me, so that others may also enjoy what have you have enjoyed with me. By the way, don’t forget to believe that I chose, trusted, and have sent you, for we can continue to do great things, if you believe in me and remain in my love. Go now and do your part, for I have already done and yet still doing my part.”

    Like Easter message, Lord’s ascension is about our Salvation not as a story of sad “endings and goodbyes” but rather of “beginnings and to be continued.” It is also about not mission-accomplished, but rather “mission still-on going in us & through us”, and “mission-delegated to us” as well. Remember as the risen Lord ascended, the disciples went forth to do their tasks to preach everywhere while the Lord worked with them. Our salvation then is not a one-man operation but rather a joint-team effort, community-endeavor and church mission. And Lord’s ascension also reminds us that our collaborative mission with the risen Lord is not all about looking at the sky but rather about working with our Lord in lifting up our endeavors to our Father.

    During Easter season, we are called to believe in the Good News of Lord’s resurrection. Now, as we celebrate His Ascension, we are called to witness our faith in the risen Lord. Now is the time for us,

    Christians, not to look up but stand up and rise into the occasion and do our part in sharing and living our lives as witnesses to the Good News of Christ’s Redemption. As Christians, we are and to be God’s gospel to be preached to all nation. Each one of us do have our own special mission in life. It is our responsibility to be what God has intended us to be here in this life now. Do our part in fulfilling our life-mission God called us to be. So, rise up to the occasion, be responsible Christians for our salvation, work with the risen Lord, take all our chances to preach our gospel of Christ to all nation, and do our part for the future of our salvation in our church nations and the world. Only then that our Salvation Saga with Christ lives on.

    So be it. Hinaut pa unta. Kabay pa. Siya nawa. Amen.